The Ametta S20 PRO GPS is one of Ameta’s latest drones that combines some premium features such as GPS and brushless motors at a more affordable price point. It’s a lightweight drone at under 250g which avoids many of the drone registration requirements and beginner friendly features for drone enthusiasts or people new to drones. Ameta has priced the drone at $199.99 which is competitive given the 4K UHD camera and GPS functionality. The drone comes with two batteries that provide up to 50 minutes of light time. Operating range is limited to 300m using 5G WiFi range with a return to home feature using GPS to ensure the drone does not get lost if you go out of range.
The Ameta S20 Pro drone combines a beginner friendly quadcopter design with a 4K camera and GPS to ensure you don’t lose it.
| Retail Price | $199.99 |
| Rating | 8.8 / 10 |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 123 (drone), 170 (remote w/ batteries) |
| Likes | + High resolution 4K camera with bright colors + GPS return to home function ensures you won’t lose the drone + Intuitive controls and simple app makes flying easy |
| Dislikes | – Limited light indicators on the exterior of the drone make it hard to visually track – Single axis camera with no image stabilization results in jittery footage – Batteries have to be charged while installed on drone |
| Where to Buy (US) | Ameta |
UNBOXING
The Ameta S20 Pro drone comes in a compact cardboard box with large graphics of the drone on the exterior. Inside the box you’ll find:
- S20 Pro Drone
- 2x Batteries
- Remote controller
- Fabric storage bag
- User manual
- Quick start guide
- USB charging cable
- Spare propeller blades w/ screws and screwdriver
Surprisingly, Ameta does not include the 3 required AAA batteries required for the remote which are typically included at this price point.
FIT & FINISH
The Ameta S20 Pro has a classic folding quadcopter design with four propellers and a lightweight plastic body. It’s a very lightweight drone with a plastic construction and front mounted camera that weighs in at only 123g which is well under the 250g limit for drone regulations. What makes this drone more premium than your typical beginner drones like the Ascend Aeronautics is that the drone has a 4K camera, GPS chip and a motorized single axis camera mount. Those differences are not obvious from the exterior as it has a fairly generic plastic body with limited Ameta branding and yellow graphics on the top. There is a top mounted power button with an LED indicator next to it. To capture the full 4K video resolution you’ll need to insert a MicroSD card into the slot on the side of the drone.
Compared to other drones, the Ameta S20 Pro has very limited exterior lighting with only two outer LEDs mounted on the outside of the front propellers that flash green or red depending on the drone state. The rear of the drone has a slot for the battery and a USB-C port beneath it. To charge the batteries you actually have to install them in the drone and connect a cable to the drone which is a bit awkward and only allows you to charge one battery at a time. The 4K UHD camera is attached to the front of the drone and only has a single axis motorized mount that allows the camera to rotate 90 degrees from horizontal to downward using the remote. Unlike more expensive drones there is no mechanical or software image stabilization for the S20 Pro so you need to fly smoothly to get smooth footage.
Ameta also includes a nice zippered fabric case to keep all the components of the drone and spare parts organized. It has a nice gray textured exterior with custom foam inserts on the inside to separate the drone, two batteries and remote from each other. A mesh pocket on the outer door holds the spare propeller parts and instruction manual. It’s a nice bag that even has a fabric loop on the outer edge that makes it easy to carry and travel with the drone. The two included batteries also ensure you can do long flights with the S20 Pro before you’ll need to recharge the batteries.
To fly the drone there is also a plastic remote with folding handles and a phone holder built in. It’s a very similar design to other drones like the Snaptain S5C Elite with two thin handles that fold out of the body and flip-up center cover that conceals the power button and phone holder. Ameta has kept the remote simple with two joysticks that let you control altitude, orientation as well as pitch and yaw. There are four main buttons: take off / land, return to home, calibration and ATTI to fly without a GPS signal. On the backside of the remote there are two rocker buttons, one for taking photos and starting/stopping recordings while the other button adjusts the angle of the camera. Flipping open the center cover reveals a spring loaded phone holder, the power button and a toggle switch for slow / fast speed setting
APP
To unlock all the features of the drone you’ll need the Ameta Drone app which is available for free download on both iOS and Android. The app is very simple with a home page that lets you view stored images/videos, access support email addresses, view the user manual and view connection instructions. Using your phone’s WiFi settings you can connect to the drone which then lets you view the camera image in real-time and access the additional features. Out of the box, the drone is set to beginner mode which limits the drone distance until you have some more flight time. There are also controls to adjust the maximum distance and altitude which are easy ways to avoid accidents for new pilots.
Once you are connected to the drone it is a simple user interface with icons on the top to show wifi range, battery status, GPS status and an additional icon on the bottom for the memory card storage. The app also displays the heading, distance, height and other useful metrics on top of the camera image so you can get a better sense of the drone’s position. Unlike some drones which let you fully control the drone via the app, you’ll still need to remote to do altitude and angle adjustments with only basic options such as return to home duplicated on the user interface.
AUTOMATED FLIGHTS
Ameta has also incorporated a few automated flight modes into the S20 Pro through the Ameta Drone app. It’s a fairly straight forward interface that is all driven through the app. The main ones we looked at were:
Orbit Flying. The drone will automatically orbit around the point you initiate the flight in. Using the remote you can adjust the altitude while the app will automatically rotate the orientation of the drone to point inward. When you first initiate this mode you can set the orbit radius which lets you get fast close up shots or longer distance shots. It’s a fun way to get a 360 shot that is focused on a single point, which would be very difficult to manually achieve.
Waypoint Flying. This lets you set waypoints on the app to create an automated flight path for the drone to follow. In our Android version of the app this shows a white screen with an arrow indicator showing the current orientation and position of the drone. However, there is no indication of scale, aside from the relative distance between the drone and your position, so it’s not very clear how far the waypoints are. We only realized how close we got to hitting a tree after reviewing footage from a waypoint flight. Conceptually, it’s a good idea but without an overhead map view it’s difficult to achieve any type of accurate flight. The drone also stops at each waypoint and then reorients so it points straight to the next waypoint. That means you won’t get smooth footage through the flight path.
GPS Follow. The drone will follow the GPS location emitted by the app while holding its altitude. This is one of more interesting modes that could be used to capture some unique shots like an overhead follow. The speed and responsiveness is limited so it’s best reserved for walking or slow speeds on bike / scooter type shots and can be initiated and canceled via the app.
There are also a few camera shooting modes like rocket, far away, panorama, and time-lapse that let you capture more professional looking shots automatically. The modes can create some interesting effects such as a rocket which accelerates away vertically automatically which could be difficult to get smooth using the remote. However, unlike higher-end drones, there is very little in the way of customization of these modes settings so you’ll likely end up manually re-creating these modes to match your desired result and scene. The S20 Pro lacks any type of object tracking or collision detection like the HOVERAir X1 so we’d recommend alternative drones if you want to capture more complicated shots automatically.
FLYING IMPRESSIONS
With the lightweight construction and quadcopter design of the S20 Pro, it’s a very beginner friendly drone. There is a bit of a delay when you first turn on the drone for it to acquire a GPS connection so you’ll want to fly it somewhere with open skies. Once the light indicators switch colors you can launch the drone with a single button. In the slow speed setting the drone reacts slowly to altitude, orientation, pitch and yaw inputs from the joy sticks making it easier to fly smoothly and get comfortable with the drone. Once you have some flight time the higher speed setting makes the drone more responsive allowing it to execute faster maneuvers.
At only 123 grams, the S20 Pro is very light and is sensitive to wind. You’ll want to stick to calm days to fly the drone otherwise it can be difficult to maintain a position, otherwise the controls are beginner friendly. The 4K camera has a clear image and high resolution that is a big upgrade from 1080P or 2K cameras on entry level drones and can be used to fly the drone POV using the app. However, the drone’s lack of a gimbal means the video is shaky and won’t achieve the smooth cinematic shots of more expensive drones. If you fly very smoothly or stick to basic maneuvers you can get some nice overhead or tracking shots which is a plus.
One of the key advantages of the GPS feature of the S20 Pro drone is the return-to-home function. While this won’t stop the drone from getting stuck in a tall tree or crashing onto a roof, you won’t have to fear losing track of the drone due to going out of range. The drone will automatically return home if it loses connection or if you initiate it from the remote. Once initiated, the drone will fly back directly to the starting GPS position. We found it to be fairly accurate with the drone returning within 10 feet of the initial launching point.
THE VERDICT
Overall, we found the Ameta S20 Pro to be a fun and easy to fly drone. Ameta has combined some premium features such as a 4K camera and GPS to create a beginner friendly drone at a relatively affordable price point. The folding quadcopter design makes the drone stable and intuitive to fly using the two joysticks with enough power from the brushless motors to fly at higher speeds and altitudes. We were happy to see the GPS feature which ensures the drone can always return to home if you lose track of it or go out of range. As far as negatives, the lack of image stabilization means the 4K footage is shaky and we would have liked to see more exterior lights to make it easier to visually track the orientation of the drone. That said, the Ameta S20 Pro is a fun beginner friendly drone with some higher end features.
Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Ameta. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.